A bread box is standard equipment in many South African kitchens – like an electric kettle. Of course, the bread there is baked without preservatives, and just keeping it from drying out makes a big difference to the taste a day or two later. Interestingly enough, you can make toast from stale bread, but making toast from fresh bread in infinitely better.

Another kitchen device that seems like it is stupid but is actually really useful is a banana “tree”. Really it’s just a hook that you can hang your bananas on. We’ve used one for probably 5 years now and it definitely keeps our bananas edible longer. Apparently since the bananas don’t have any pressure points on them, they don’t bruise. The lack of bruises prevents them from getting all soft and nasty. Of course, they still go bad eventually, but they stay good at least a few days longer than without the banana tree.